VFSA Board Meeting Minutes
April 10, 2023

The Valley Forge Sewer Authority (VFSA) monthly Board meeting was held at 7pm via Zoom (online meeting service) on Monday, April 10th 2023, at 7:00 pm.  In attendance: Board members: Norman (Norm) Vutz, Chuck Melle, David (Dave) Demey, Samuel (Sam) Cupp, David (Dave) Greer and William (Bill) LaPorte.  Also in attendance were General Manager Leonard (Len) Pinchok, Lab Manager Richard (Rick) Taylor and Maintenance Supervisor Lloyd Knauer.  David (Dave) Shirk attended, representing the Authority’s Engineer of Record, Buchart-Horn, Inc.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Public Comment
Mark Bubel of Aqua attended the meeting. There was no public comment.

Meeting Minutes

William LaPorte made a motion to approve the March 13th, 2023 meeting minutes as presented, which was seconded by Sam Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Operations Report

Rick Taylor presented the Operations Report stating there were no limit violations during March.  The month of March had no odor complaints.  Bill LaPorte made a motion to accept the operations report as presented, which was seconded by Chuck Melle, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Financial Report

Len Pinchok presented the combined statement of operations showing the balances of all accounts at the end of March totaling $25,512,947. Fund balances were presented for review, followed by the budget to actual, where the revenue fund has a surplus of $122,381 and the treatment plant fund is at a surplus of $110,505.  Total for the Imprest fund reconciliation was $1,011.59. Petty Cash expenses totaled $9.28. Credit card purchases for the month were $1,703.96.  AP invoices totaled $256,570.52. Sam Cupp made a motion to approve items 1 through 6 as presented, which was seconded by Bill Laporte, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.  

The financial report continued with one requisition from Burns Engineering totaling $154.25 from the Capital Improvement fund. Chuck Melle made a motion to approve the requisitions as presented, which was seconded by Sam Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

New Business

There was no new business for the month.

Old Business

Meadow Lane Sewer Extension

There was no additional information or activity during the month.  Mr. Shirk stated final approval/disapproval on grant applications will not be issued prior to June 2023.  East Pikeland will notify the Authority and residents when the project is expected to continue and proposed costs are determined. 

Act 537 Special Study

Mr. Shirk mentioned a telephone conversation earlier this afternoon between VFSA staff and Kelly Boettlin from PADEP.  PADEP is requiring 20-year future growth projections from all municipalities.  VFSA will notify municipalities to submit an updated needs analysis with future projections.  Buchart Horn has finished most of the narrative required for the Act 537 Special Study.  Mr. Shirk does not expect a substantial delay to the timetable for completion. 

Other

The VFSA monthly board meeting will be held in the Administration building (and via zoom) beginning on May 8th, 2023. 

Mr. Shirk presented two (2) bids for the Septage Receiving Unit.  Both bids received were extremely high ($244,000, $293,000) and well over the budget amount of $60,000. Mr. Shirk recommended rejecting the bids and re-evaluating the project to lower costs.  Ed DiMond and Lloyd Knauer are meeting with the low bidder (Eastern Environmental) later this week to discuss possible modifications to the project.  Chuck Melle made a motion to reject the bids as presented, which was seconded by Bill LaPorte, and the Board unanimously approved the motion. 

Mr. Knauer reported that Phoenix Odor Control filters are being replaced later this week.

Executive Session

The Board went into executive session at 7:46 pm to discuss personnel matters.  The session ended at 8:05 pm. 

To Do List

• Follow up with PECO regarding meter at Pothouse Pump Station.
• Research vendor reasons for not bidding on Septage Receiving Unit.

Adjournment

Bill LaPorte made a motion to adjourn the meeting that was seconded by Dave Demey and the Board unanimously approved the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:07 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Demey

VFSA Board Secretary